Alternating groups as products of cycle classes - II

Abstract

Given integers $k,l\geq 2$, where either $l$ is odd or $k$ is even, let $n(k,l)$ denote the largest integer $n$ such that each element of $A_n$ is a product of $k$ many $l$-cycles. In 2008, M. Herzog, G. Kaplan and A. Lev conjectured that $\lfloor \frac{2kl}{3} \rfloor \leq n(k,l)\leq \lfloor \frac{2kl}{3}\rfloor+1$. It is known that the conjecture holds when $k=2,3,4$. Moreover, it is also true when $3\mid l$. In this article, we determine the exact value of $n(k,l)$ when $3\nmid l$ and $k\geq 5$. As an immediate consequence, we get that $n(k,l)<\lfloor \frac{2kl}{3}\rfloor$ when $k\geq 5$, which shows that the above conjecture is not true in general. In fact, the difference between the exact value of $n(k,l)$ and the conjectured value grows linearly in terms of $k$. Our results also generalize the case of $k=2,3,4$.